Wilhelm von Knobelsdorff (General, 1825)

Wilhelm Karl Adolf Kurt von Knobelsdorff (born July 26, 1825 in Stargard , † January 25, 1908 in Hanover ) was a Prussian major general and genealogist.

Life

origin

Tomb of the married couple Wilhelm and Sophie von Knobelsdorff , née Countess von der Pahlen , Baroness von Astrau and Otto and Alix von Knobelsdorff , née Baroness von Schmysing, named Korff ; Engesohde city cemetery , Hanover

He came from the noble family von Knobelsdorff and was the son of the Prussian Colonel a. D. Karl Wilhelm Ernst von Knobelsdorff (1792–1877) and his wife Klara, née Müllner (1805–1883), a daughter of the poet lawyer Adolf Müllner .

Military career

Knobelsdorff attended high schools in Leobschütz and Liegnitz . On July 26, 1842, he was employed as a musketeer in the Guard Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Prussian Army . Here he was promoted to secondary lieutenant on September 14, 1843 and graduated from the General War School on October 15, 1847 . Knobelsdorff had to interrupt his training due to the revolutionary unrest . He and his regiment initially participated in the suppression of the unrest in Berlin and was deployed in the battle near Kirchheimbolanden . During the campaign in Baden Knobelsdorff was wounded during the siege of Rastatt . From October 15, 1850, he continued his training at the General War School, which he completed in early August 1852 with a very good certificate. After serving in the troops and being promoted to prime lieutenant , on March 1, 1858, due to his good results at the General War School, he was assigned to the war history department of the General Staff for a year .

As a captain and company commander in the Guard Fusilier Regiment, Knobelsdorff took part in the battle at Thrush in 1866 during the war against Austria and was wounded by a shot in the left forearm. For his achievements he received the Order of the Red Eagle, IV class with swords. After the war Knobelsdorff rose to major on October 30, 1866 and was transferred to Cologne on March 22, 1868 as commander of the 1st Battalion in the East Prussian Fusilier Regiment No. 33 . In this capacity Knobelsdorff fought during the war against France in the Battle of Gravelotte and was wounded so badly by a shot through the right elbow that he could not take part in further fighting. His achievements were honored by being awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class.

On the occasion of the imperial proclamation Knobelsdorff became lieutenant colonel on January 18, 1871 . Two years later he was appointed commander of the Grenadier Regiment "Kronprinz" (1st East Prussian) No. 1 stationed in Königsberg , and on March 22, 1873 he was promoted to colonel . On June 24, 1874 Knobelsdorff became a legal knight of the Order of St. John and on the occasion of the festival he received the Order of the Red Eagle III on January 18, 1876. Class with swords and a bow on the rings. With the authorization to wear the uniform of his regiment, Knobelsdorff was put up for disposal on February 12, 1876 with the statutory pension .

On June 1, 1885 Knobelsdorff was given the character of major general. In addition, on January 18, 1900, he received the Order of the Crown, 2nd class.

heraldry

Knobelsdorff had already worked as an author and heraldist during his active service. Since the 1850s he has published for the Gustav Lange book printing company in Berlin on the history of his family back to prehistory and the migrations in early history .

family

Knobelsdorff had married Karoline Dorothea Sophie Countess von der Pahlen , Freiin von Astrau (born March 13, 1833 in Mitau , † February 6, 1910 in Charlottenburg ) from the Weitenfeld family in Berlin on May 28, 1863 . Both are buried in the Engesohde city cemetery in Hanover. The marriage resulted in the son Hans (1866–1947), who, like his father, embarked on an officer career in the Prussian army and made it to major general.

Fonts

• On the history of the von Knobelsdorff family. Printed as typescript at the family's expense, Berlin: Buchdruckerei Gustav Lange:
  • Issues 1–5, published between 1855 and 1859.
    • online via the German Digital Library
  • Book 1: Prehistory and prehistory, the hiking time of the Knobelsdorff family. 1870
• Georg Wenceslaus von Knobelsdorff the builder and friend of Frederick the Great . Riegel, Berlin 1861.
• The family tables of the von Knobelsdorff family. Berlin 1876.
• The von Knobelsdorff family in family tables from the oldest to the most recent times of Wilhelm von Knobelsdorff. Gustav Lange's printing press, Berlin 1876.
• The German standards and flags from prehistoric times to the present. Lecture of the major general z. D. von Knobelsdorff, held at the meeting of the “ Historical Association for Lower Saxony ” in Hanover on March 2, 1896, Hannoversche Post . Hanover 1896.
  • Enclosure of the heraldic communications of the Heraldic Association "Zum Kleeblatt" from 1896 with the subtitle ... a lecture with a drawing enclosure, which was kindly donated when the text had already been removed. The reader will find his way around without difficulty

literature

• Kurt von Priesdorff : Soldier leadership . Volume 10, Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt Hamburg, undated [Hamburg], undated [1942], DNB 986919810 , pp. 200-201, no. 3165.
• Wilhelm Rothert : General Hanoverian biography. Volume 1: Hanoverian men and women since 1866. Sponholtz Verlag, Hanover 1912, p. 350.
• Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the primeval noble houses. The nobility native to Germany. Verlag Perthes, Gotha 1916, p. 404 .
• Genealogical pocket book of the primitive nobility, 2nd volume, 1893, p. 299 f.

Web links

• Knobelsdorff, Wilhelm von in the German biography
• Digitized writings from von Knobelsdorff about the Bavarian State Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Knobelsdorff, Wilhelm Karl Adolf von. in the database of Lower Saxon people. (New entry required) of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library - Lower Saxony State Library , last accessed on September 30, 2016. The year of birth 1826 is given there.